86 7 Establishing Your Contribution
example, there is a clear focus on potatoes: because they are important to the food
industry, we need to fully understand the potato production process.
Alternatively, we might study potatoes to determine ways that vegetables are
seen in the fast food industry. If we discovered key success factors in the way po-
tatoes are distributed, processed, and consumed, we might then be bold enough to
suggest ways that other vegetables could be assimilated in the fast food industry.
In the second case, we have used the study of potatoes as a ‘case study’ to illustrate
how vegetables can be assimilated into the fast food industry.
As you can see, despite studying a similar subject in both of the research projects,
the structure of the thesis depends in part of your focal purpose and final goal. From
the start, then, you need to be clear whether you are investigating a phenomenon in
its own right or as a case study from which you might later develop principles that
apply to similar settings. In general, the case-study investigation is far more ambi-
tious and involves more work.
Let me give a more realistic example. One of my students, Hisako, had visited
Vanuatu on holidays and was struck by the range of imported foods at a grocery
store in the capital. Vanuatu is a developing country that spreads out across a rich
archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean. For millennia, human habitation has been
sustained by a rich and healthy diet that consists of yams, seafood and a variety of
small game. In recent years, however, increased globalization and Western influ-
ences have begun to influence the diets of the peoples of Vanuatu. Hisako was
interested in the effects that such changes in eating might have on the overall health
of the population.
From the start of her thesis, in many of our discussions we sought to determine
whether she was intending to write a study, or a case study. We sketched out differ-
ence in the two structures and discussed them. The following comparative lists set
out differences in report structure, using Vanuatu as an example.
A study, with a focus on a specific phenomenon A case study, as an example of larger
phenomena
Title: The changing diet of Vanuatu Title: Influences of globalization on traditional
diets: A case study of Vanuatu
Problem: As a result of globalization, the culture
of Vanuatu is changing, and, importantly, so
is the diet. Little is known, however, how
global changes are influencing the traditional
diet of Vanuatu
Problem: Little research to date examines
the impact of the increased global produc-
tion and distribution of food on the diets of
people in developing countriesAim: To examine changes in diet of the people
of Vanuatu in an era of rapid globalization
Aim: To examine the influence of global trends
of food distribution and consumption on
traditional diets
Scope: Limit the study to a specific area of the
country, potentially just one section of one
of the islands, and set limits on the length
and extent of data gather procedures by time,
participants, and focal aspects of diet
Scope: Limit the study to a select range of
developing countries, such as those in the
Pacific Islands, and note that Vanuatu as a
case incorporates many of the characteristics
of such countries